Addressing the All Party Parliamentary Cheese Group at a reception in London last night, Dairy UK Director General Jim Begg urged the Government to support a labelling framework that would allow the industry to respond to changing consumer demands.

“Although we have some of the best cheeses in the world in our current portfolio, more than 700 of them in fact”, said Begg, “we are constantly developing new products, and variations to traditional products, in response to consumer demand. And it will be our ability to respond to changing consumer preferences that will be pretty fundamental to our ongoing success.

“What this industry needs from Government is a benign legal environment that allows us to respond to the consumer. As we go forward through issues such as the European Regulation on Nutritional and Health Claims, and the Food Information Regulation, we want to avoid restrictive labelling laws hindering product innovation and development, whilst maintaining traditional varieties.”

Begg also stressed the opportunities for the industry to share in the long term growth in global demand for dairy products, predicted by analysts to be around two and a half per cent annually in the next 5 years.

“Most of this growth will be in the east” said Begg, “particularly China, where growth of five per cent is forecast. In the European Union, and the western economies, it’s going to be tougher, but our products remain hugely popular with consumers and growth is our objective.”